“Diagram of a Graveyard”/ 22 x 30 inches / mixed media on paper / 2009
This piece is a diagram of all the elements used in the Charlatan group of works. This piece was originally inspired by a piece of artwork in the Philadelphia Museum of art entitled “The Charlatan” by Mexican modernist Jose Chavez Morada from 1942. The piece was a composition based on a traveling “snake oil” salesman making his pitch in the town square. The elements of the composition included, the salesman, a snake, and a bottle of the elixir and a chart of the human body. The artist connected with this piece on a visceral level. The artist had been splitting his time between Washington DC and Miami Florida – two places rife with charlatans. The Jose Chavez Morada piece was dissected by the artist and reconstituted to construct a framework to elaborate on his views on this matter.
